This is a cry for help 😭
I got back into painting my nails in Oct/Nov after YEARS of keeping them bare and natural. I’ve always been very keen on nail care and my nails were in excellent condition before (see first pic). I always kept them totally bare and they grew long and strong without any polish etc. (I know the sidewalls are overfiled, I’ve stopped doing that now!)
I absolutely loved painting my nails and it became my favourite relaxing hobby/self care ritual. But after 4-5 months of using polish I don’t think I can do it any longer because my nails are ruined. As you can see in image 2 and 3, there is extensive peeling and they are so thin and bendy when I touch them. I can’t get them to grow longer than this because they just crack and break, it’s awful.
I use Essie Smooth E base coat which doesn’t contain PBV, so it’s not that. It’s nothing to do with my hormones because I had lovely long nails for years with no issues. It has to be either acetone or nail polish in general causing the damage because they’re the only two factors that have changed.
I was painting them roughly once a week and removing with acetone before going straight in with new polish. I realised I was never adding oil between manicures so I’ve started doing warm oil soaks after using acetone to compensate for how drying it is, before going in with new polish the next day. But other than that, I’m at a loss for what to do. If this damage continues then I’ll have to give up polish 💔 my poor nails dont deserve this!!!
by Only-Investigator876
18 Comments
Acetone additives and adding just plain glycerin to my acetone has helped my nails a whole lot. I also often use a peel off base coat and can forego acetone completely. I’m sure many others here have more information or idea of what this could be caused by but I think acetone additives/glycerine is a good place to start if you’re using it once a week!
To me it looks like you’re doing all the right steps with the nail polish, and it’s not normal for nail polish to do that either, you also mentioned you started paiting your nails around 4 months ago and that you’re seeing these results now, so I think this might be something is:
– Vitamins of iron defiency
– A new cleaning product you’re having contact with
– You treat your nails roughly when they’re painted
– You developed an allergy to nail polish (very unlikely)
This could be my exact story too 😭😭
Nailtiques formula 2 solved almost all of my peeling and sidewall tearing. It took a few months but it really worked for me
I dont have anything helpful to add because I have struggled with this too, but i just wanted to say you have such lovely nailbeds! I hope you find the answers you need ❤️
Maybe try acetone free remover and see if it makes a difference? Mine peeled pretty bad when I used acetone regularly on them, I switched to acetone free and they’re back to long and healthy
I stopped using Orly Bonder as my base coat and switched to OPI’s Nail Envy (2 coats) under polish and it made a big difference in peeling for me.
This happened to me and I found out it was PVB in Holo Taco’s smoothing base 🙁 had to cut my nails down and they are just now starting to recover. Hope you figure out what it is. Nailtiques also solved this issue for my weak nails when I first started growing them out!
I experience the same thing, sadly. Nail polish is made to adhere to your nails, and though not as powerful as gel or acrylic, can definitely damage nails and cause peeling because of this. The Salon Life did a video on this, and she seems to be actively looking for a base coat nail polish that won’t adhere as strongly to hopefully be less damaging. You could try Dazzle Dry nail polish- for me, it caused less damage but ultimately still damaged my nails over time.
I had this problem for a while as well. I never see people talking about it as a possible cause but for me this went away once I switched to acetone free nail polish remover. I think I have relatively dry skin in general. Using acetone (even though most people do and have no issue) was apparently too much for my nails. They became very brittle and peeled and even though I oiled with jojoba constantly this would not make it better.
Once I switched to acetone free nail polish remover (which is was no fun, let me tell you honestly) this problem went away because my nails did not dry out that much anymore. The grew back strong and without peeling. I can say for sure that this was the solution for me, because I never stopped with nail polish or switch topcoats or base coats. Acetone additives did not help for me, honestly. Because just adding them was not enough care for my nails.
Once they were back to normal I was actually able to switch to acetone, but there is just one specific kind that works for me (that is cosmetic grade, not sure what that means but it does the trick). If that would not be sold anymore, I would honestly not try any other acetone but stay with acetone free remover.
Not sure if this is helpful for you but I wish you all the best in your peeling recovery
Try a peel off base coat instead of acetone to see if it makes a difference. It could be your nails drying out from the acetone.
I like opi nail envy! Makes my nails strong and long
Go to walmart and get Steel Nails with the blue cap! I had the exact same problem and this fixed it after a few weeks.
I used to use Essie Smooth E base for years. It did this to my nail too. I am convinced that it does contain PBV. When I switched to a different BC, my nails started healing. It still took a year for all my nails to fully grow out.
I used to get builder gel done at a Japanese nail and I was worried about the health of my nails when I started doing my own. I’ve been using olive & june nail strengthener and OPI nail envy as my base and nail oil / moisturizer as much as I can as maintenance. Still use acetone but I put nail oil on around the edges before taking color off. Good luck
I had a similar situation and for me it was using cuticle remover incorrectly, I was leaving it on too long and pushing hard with a metal cuticle pusher while the remover was on my nails and then I didn’t rinse it off very well afterwards.
I realized, only recently, that I was being way too aggressive and really damaging my nails every week. I switched up my routine to only leaving it on 30 seconds and doing it at the sink and then rinsing and washing my hands immediately, dry with a towel, and then gently scrape any cuticles with only an orange wood stick.
I used to paint my nails 2 to 3 times a week several years ago and they were constantly flaking and damaged so I stopped for two years and I grew all the damage out and now I’m painting them again with a better cuticle remover process. I also stopped filing my side walls so intensely too.
I didn’t see any mention of cuticle remover in your process so thought I would throw this out there just in case. I hope it gets better T_T
I was having horrible issues with peeling. I was using acetone and Orly Bonder as my base. Here’s the changes I’ve made:
– Switched to Mineral Fusion as my remover
– Started using a glass file and only filing in one direction gently
– Use kbshimmer hydrating base coat instead of Orly
– Use kbshimmer Clearly on Top instead of my old Essie
top coat
Do you have generally dry skin? I was having some horrible peeling problems, and then saw someone on here suggest doing a 10-20 minute oil soak between taking off my old polish and putting the new on. You just buff off the excess with a soft cloth (or your shirt) before putting on the new polish. It has made a world of difference.
I’ll still get peeling if I get a particularly bad chip (think half the polish just pops off), but that’s been happening less too since I’ve added the oiling step. My manis last about a week, maybe two, and that’s with me working with livestock.